Current Salon & Color Bar is proud to team up with Smashing Walnuts to help “Crack the Cure” for childhood brain cancer at the organization’s 5th Annual Walk & Fitness Challenge. The salon is the Title 5 Presenting Sponsor for the event, which will kick off at 11:00am on May 21st at Heritage High School in Leesburg, Virginia.

Smashing Walnuts was the “brainchild” of 9-year-old Gabriella Miller, who was diagnosed with DIPG, an inoperable brain tumor that was the size of a walnut. Realizing how little awareness and funding there was for childhood cancer and particularly childhood brain cancer, Gabriella quickly became a global advocate for children with cancer and started the Smashing Walnuts Foundation. She and her family raised nearly $300,000 for children’s cancer charities and spread awareness that the need was great, but the funding was low. She started the Smashing Walnuts Foundation to change that.

She was only 10 years old when she passed away in 2013, and her legacy has lived on. An interview, filmed two weeks before her passing, led to her name being added to a Federal Bill allocating $126 million for childhood disease research and kick started a mission to focus on research. Today, Smashing Walnuts provides funding, lobbying and directed resources to develop better treatment protocols and a cure, partnering with government organizations, lawmakers, businesses, nonprofits, communities and children who share their goal.

“We were heartbroken when we first heard Gabriella’s story back in 2013,” said Ryan Mallard, Co-Owner and Managing Director of Current Salon. “It hit incredibly close to home for so many in this community, and it is an honor to be a part of their efforts to raise awareness and funding for ongoing research.”

The Walk & Fitness Challenge event will feature a series of physical challenges specifically designed to combine fitness and fun. Each sponsor station will offer a new obstacle, which participants will receive credit for as they complete the course. Participants can exchange their “Star Card” for participation and raffle prizes.

“We are blessed to have an incredibly generous following at the salon, who have allowed us to give back to this community in some pretty outstanding ways,” added Mallard. “We are really looking forward to this event, and can’t wait to see the community come out to support this incredible organization that works so hard to give children like Gabriella a fighting chance.”